Suddenly, the issue of Malay unity and special rights has emerged again, in
the hodgepodge we call Malaysian politics. Then there are the deaths in Old
Klang Road, which came into being, partly, as a result of racial tensions.

A non-Malaysian would be forgiven to think that Malaysians are still in the
20th century considering we continue to accept a racially-based political, economic
and social system in our lives. But that is a fact as even now in the 21st century,
some quarters are still interested in stirring up racial sentiment for their
own interests.

The colonialists used it to a great measure in order to maintain their grip
on Malaysia, and it looks like we continue to play their game. We are ever too
aware of our race.

Among the four prime ministers Malaysia has had since independence, Tun Abdul
Razak had, arguably, done the most for the common people. The New Economic Policy
was supposed to eradicate poverty for all Malaysians and also lessen the economic
differences the Malays had with the other races.

Thirty years has passed, and unfortunately the target has not been achieved.
Before the economic and political crises set in, a lot of the foreign media
were heaping praises on the NEP, saying it was one of the most comprehensive
and ambitious affirmative action programmes in the world.

Rich Malays

However, once our cosmetically-impressive economy faltered, and with the increasing
momentum of opposition pressure following the sacking of the deputy prime minister,
the Malaysian people, and the Malays in particular, are realising the failure
of the NEP.

While I realise the majority of the Malays are still concerned with special
rights and various other bumiputra issues, our mentality has progressed significantly
since the last 15 years or so. The Suqiu bogey would have caused a racial crisis
similar to that what happened prior to Ops Lalang in the mid-1980s, but this
time, it did not, contrary to allegations from some quarters.

Most of the Malays are now aware that the real threat to Malay progress may
not necessarily come from the non-Malays, but possibly from the rich Malays
themselves, the only real beneficiaries of the NEP.

While I do not support the 'Barisan Betindak Melayu' campaign, which at first
seemed to aggravate racial tensions, they did include the Malay leadership in
their criticisms, rather than harping on the usual Chinese threats and such.

Marginalised Indians

If the real aim of the NEP was to overcome the significant economic gap between
Malaysians, why should it be drawn along racial lines? Shouldn't we concern
ourselves with bridging the gap between the rich Malays, Chinese and Indians
and their poor Malaysian counterparts, regardless of their race?

Why should rich bumiputras get preference for government tenders, public university
admissions and other economic, social and political benefits? Why shouldn't
the Indians who have long been marginalised for their political insignificance
(unlike the Malays) and economic unimportance (unlike the Chinese) be assisted
too? Are they less Malaysians then the Malays or Chinese?

The Indians, especially in the estate and squatter areas, have long been mere
spectators to the economic development of the country. Although accounting for
more than eight percent of the national population, their share of corporate
wealth is a mere 1.5 percent (Malays have 19.4 percent and the Chinese 18.5
percent) and they make up two-fifths of the estate workers.

A disproportionate number of criminals and hardcore poor come from this community.
Being prejudiced by the system, and forgotten in the estates, this comes to
no surprise. The statistics prove that they deserve affirmative action as much
as the Malays.

An insult

What is affirmative action? Marquita Sykes in The Origins of Affirmative Action
defined it as being 'a set of public policies and initiatives designed to help
eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex,
or national origin'.

Affirmative action, done in a careful and organised manner, can play a role
in social re-engineering. I acknowledge that the system must accommodate the
society's different backgrounds to ensure social justice, equal opportunity
and equal participation.

But this can only happen if affirmative action focuses on helping disadvantaged
people, regardless of race, religion or political convictions. By acknowledging
that a student deserves to go to a university simply because he is a bumiputra,
it implies that all bumiputra students are intellectually less capable than
their non-bumi counterparts. As a Malay, I regard that as an insult to my capability.
I am equally capable as other Malaysians.

I am blessed to have been in different environments in my life. I had a multiracial,
urban mix during my primary school years, and later, I was selected to go to
a residential school, with a hundred percent Malay student population including
boys from the East Coast, Sabah and Sarawak.

Finishing school, I went to a private college where most of the students were
non-Malays. Throughout these periods, I have seen that brains does not go along
with ethnicity. A lot of my Malay friends have been able to compete with the
best and even without preferential quotas, systems and scholarships, would still
have been able to compete with anyone in the world.

I have encountered brilliant non-Malay students who fail to enter local universities
because of the quotas and had to enter the working world since they had no money
to pursue other alternatives.

A lot of non-Malays, after going through the national education system funded
by taxpayers' money, have migrated to work in countries which acknowledge their
true capabilities and reward them on merit, not on their skin colour. This is
a great loss to Malaysia.

Utopian dream

Our present affirmative action simply coddles the Malays and makes them complacent.
It helps to fuel the long-time myth that Malays are lazy and cannot compete
with the non-Malays. It gives the picture that the non-bumis represent a threat
to the Malays.

My suggestion would be to revamp our affirmative action programme, to focus
on alleviating the fortunes of the downtrodden and the poor, the mustadhifin
and the untermensche; and not only those from one race.

The majority of the poor in Malaysia are still the bumiputras, so indirectly,
the bumiputras who need aid will still receive it, though it will not discriminate
against non-bumis who are in need of help either.

Islam advocates a system in which the disadvantaged sections of society will
be given preference to enshrine equal opportunity and participation, but never
based on ethnicity. In Iran, the nation experimenting with political Islam,
the Jews and Assyrian Christians have gained representations in the Majlis (Parliament)
unlike in the previous regime of the Shah when they were not given that opportunity.

Nevertheless, this revamping cannot be done in a radical manner, so as to not
alienate the Malays - though there is no question on the need for it. Without
it, Vision 2020 would remain a utopian dream for the Malays, the Chinese, the
Indians and all other Malaysians.